You've Got to be Carefully Taught
by Gleeks09
Summary: AU: Rachel is 7 and has a run-in at school with a bully and gets into a fight.  In this story, Shelby has always been a part of Rachel's life and she shares custody with Rachel's fathers.  Shelby tries to help her understand why some people hate. AU.


**A/N – Here's a new little story within the same world where Shelby shared custody with Hiram and Leroy. Please let me know what you think. I really do appreciate all of your feedback so much. Thanks!**

**Disclaimer – I don't own Glee. **

"Don't talk to her; she's a freak."

Rachel looked up into the eyes of the boy who had just asked her if he could sit in the swing next to her and silently willed him to ignore the comment and sit down. He looked over his shoulder at the girl who had just spoken and then looked back at Rachel and faltered before moving away towards the slide.

Rachel glared at the blonde girl standing across the playground from her and that girl glared right back at her. It was the end of their second month in third grade and the blonde girl was new in school this year. Everyone had been captivated when she showed up the first day. She was a stunning little girl and it didn't take her long proclaim herself in charge of the class. It had taken her even less time to show her true colors to Rachel and, while Rachel had never really had any real friends, everything seemed to get worse. She used to be able to play with them sometimes or some kid would invite her in on a game of tag. Rachel had had a friend at school up until last year when that little boy moved away. They'd never played outside of school though.

But this new blonde girl had let it be known that Rachel was public enemy number one and that no one should play with her. Rachel had tried to figure out why, but the other kids usually wouldn't let her get very close to them. She saw the groups whispering as she approached or keeping their distance and refusing to touch her. She had touched a boy's finger one time when she picked up a crayon he dropped and he'd raised his hand and asked to go to the bathroom so he could wash his hands.

Rachel had told her parents that no one would play with her or even talk to her and they all acted like she had cooties or something, but she knew she didn't! All three of them had advised to her continue to be nice and try and make friends and that eventually the other kids would get tired of the teasing and move on. But after a few weeks, Leroy went in to speak to Rachel's teacher who promised she hadn't really seen anything out of the ordinary but said she would keep a closer eye on the small girl.

But here on the playground during recess while the teachers stood at a distance talking amongst themselves, Rachel literally had no one to stand up for her. But that didn't mean she wouldn't stand up for herself. She had been trying to ignore it as Hiram advised, but there was only so much she could do. She was not immune to the taunting and laughing and not having one single person that said hello back to her in the morning. Shelby told her to be more direct about it and try and talk to the blonde girl and her friends and find out what was wrong. And since ignoring hadn't worked, the direct approach was what Rachel would try.

"Excuse me," she said as she wriggled off the swing and walked over towards the blonde and her gaggle of followers. "I'd like to know what your problem is." She was confident and held her head high.

"You're a freak. That's the problem," the blonde replied.

"I am not!" Rachel insisted. "You're mean for no reason."

"I'm not mean; I just don't want to talk to a freak like you," the blonde said with an air of superiority.

"Why do you think I'm a freak?" Rachel asked. Maybe if she could find out the reason, she could sort it all out so that they would know she really wasn't.

"Because you don't have a mom," the blonde replied easily enough.

"I do so!" Rachel yelled.

"No you don't! I've seen you with those two men and you called them both dad," the blonde said. "And everyone knows you can't have two dads and that you have to have a mom to be born. And you've got two dads and no mom so how did you even get here?"

"I have so got a mom!" Rachel said. "And I've got two dads, so you're wrong because you can have it."

"No you can't!" the blonde yelled back. "Everyone knows that. Everyone has one mom and one dad except you and that makes you a freak! You can't have two dads because it's not right. You can't be normal that way."

"I can too be normal!" Rachel shouted. "I am normal," she amended. This was not something that was entirely new to Rachel and she'd been hearing grumblings of it ever since she could remember. Her parents had tried to explain it in its most basic form about how families are all different and it doesn't matter as long as they know they're a family. She knew that people often said mean things about her fathers though she didn't know why. They simply held their head higher and so she tried to do the same.

"You're just prejudice," Rachel said. She knew what this word meant, but from the look that passed the blonde's face, Rachel was certain that she didn't.

"Don't call me names!" the blonde shouted and stepped forward to shove Rachel. "You can't do that!"

By this time a good crowd had formed around the small girls and the kids were much more interested in this scene than in any of the games they had just been playing.

Rachel didn't lose her balance but was taken aback by the shove. She had always been taught to try and resolve differences through words.

"I didn't call you a name," Rachel said. "I said you were prejudice." She couldn't help but her little devious smile at having the upper hand because she knew what the word meant. It had been explained to her before.

"Stop that!" the blonde shoved her again and Rachel stepped back a few steps but didn't fall.

"Don't push me," Rachel said. "You're not supposed to fight."

"I can do whatever I want," the blonde said. She was the Queen Bee around there and everyone knew it. She shoved Rachel again.

"Stop it!" Rachel yelled as she lunged forward and pushed the blonde girl back. Maybe just one push would make the other girl stop.

It wasn't very hard, but the blonde's foot caught on the small line of decorative bricks that lined the flower bed and she toppled over backwards into the dirt which was muddy due to a recent rain. The group of kids became eerily silent and Rachel's eyes went wide as she suddenly became very afraid of the angry creature that was picking herself up off the ground. The entire back of the blonde's dress was covered in mud and she even had it in her hair.

"You ruined my dress!" the blonde yelled. She didn't help it any by wiping her muddy hands on the front.

Before Rachel could say anything, the blonde had her tackled to the ground and was swinging her little fists as she sat on top of her. The group of children erupted into cheers and taunts and it was then that the teachers across the field looked up and saw the commotion. They all started to jog in the direction of the kids.

"Stop it," Rachel cried out. The blonde was bigger and stronger than she was and Rachel didn't even really try and fight back. She didn't know how. She did her best to try and push the blonde girl off of her, but it was a futile attempt. "Please."

One swinging fist finally came in contact with Rachel's left eye and the little girl gave up her struggle and started to cry in earnest. The blonde tried to land another blow but was pulled up from behind by their teacher.

"Quinn Fabray, you stop that this instant."

Rachel was hauled to her feet as well and she put a hand to her already swelling eye. The group of kids took in the scene and it wasn't very difficult to tell who had won. Quinn stood up tall and even had a smile; clearly she had been right the entire time and she wanted everyone to know it. Rachel was still crying and couldn't look at any of the other kids. She was scared to look up at the teachers because was convinced that hers didn't really like her. She chanced a glance up to see who was holding onto her and saw the kind face of her former kindergarten teacher looking back at her. Rachel had loved her and sniffled a little bit at the sympathetic eyes that met hers. She took some solace in the fact that the woman walked her to the office holding her hand and not her arm like the lady who had a hold on Quinn.

The girls sat across from each other in the office, both swinging their feet because neither could reach the ground. Quinn had her arms crossed in front of her and Rachel held an ice pack to her eye. They had already spoken with the principal and received their punishments and were now waiting on their parents to come and pick them up. Each girl was given a day suspension to be served the following day. They stared at each other but did not say a word. Every time the door to the office would open they would each look up to see if it was someone there to collect them.

Rachel tried to guess as to who would be picking her up, but couldn't really come to a logical conclusion. She assumed that she would be in trouble with all of her parents anyway and at this point she wanted to see a friendly face because she wasn't sure how much longer she could take Quinn glaring at her.

Rachel smiled though her tears started again when Shelby opened the door and stepped into the office.

"Mom," Rachel said and she stood up in her chair so she would be at eye level with her mother.

"Mom?" Quinn questioned as Shelby made her way to Rachel. She didn't have a mom. Her dad had said so.

"Rach," Shelby said as she stepped over to her and enveloped the crying girl in a hug. "Are you ok?" Rachel mumbled something and nodded into Shelby's shoulder.

Quinn watched in with an expression of wonder and envy as Shelby rubbed Rachel's back and kissed her head. She did not expect to get a hug when her mother got here.

"Let me see," Shelby said when she pulled back from the hug. She held Rachel's chin and turned her head to the side a little bit so she could get a proper look at the black eye that was forming.

"I'm sorry, Mommy," Rachel pouted. She was a pathetic sight indeed.

"Shhh," Shelby said as she placed another kiss on her forehead before releasing her chin. "We'll talk about it later. Sit back down." Shelby held Rachel's arm to help steady her as she sat down in the chair and then she turned to look at Quinn.

"Are you ok, sweetie?" Shelby asked the stunned blonde girl. Shelby could tell she was a mess, but she didn't have any bruises forming on her face.

Quinn nodded. "Are you really her mom?"

"Of course," Shelby said, unable to hide a chuckle.

"Quinn!" Judy Fabray scolded as soon as she walked into the office. Quinn took her eyes off of Shelby and sat up straighter in her chair. "Look at your dress! It's filthy."

"It wasn't my fault," Quinn said.

"It was too!" Rachel defended herself.

"Rachel," Shelby quieted her.

"Mrs. Fabray, Ms. Corcoran," the principal said when he came out of his office to greet them. The two women followed him to his office so they could talk.

"I told you I had a mom," Rachel said when the adults were gone.

"So what?" Quinn shrugged, refusing to admit she was wrong. "It doesn't change anything."

Rachel gave up on keeping the ice pack on her eye so she could cross her arms in a huff. She was done talking to Quinn Fabray.

A few minutes later their moms returned and stood between the girls. The principal had explained about the school's zero tolerance policy for fighting and according to him it didn't really matter who was at fault since they both had to be punished. But Judy and Shelby wanted to know why their seven and eight-year-olds had gotten into the altercation.

"What happened, Quinn?" Judy asked.

"She called me a name," Quinn accused.

"No I didn't," Rachel said. "And you called me a name first."

"What name did you call her?" Judy asked of Quinn.

Quinn looked up at both adults and knew better than to argue with her mother's glare. "Freak," she mumbled.

Shelby looked over at Rachel and the girl hung her head, still upset at being called that name.

"Why did you say that?" Judy asked.

Quinn shrugged and wouldn't answer so Rachel spoke up for her.

"She said that I didn't have a mom and she said that I couldn't have two dads, but I do!" Rachel said. "She said I can't be normal. But I am normal."

Shelby looked from her daughter over to Quinn who was looking at her mother and then to Judy who was shaking her head with her eyes shut as if she knew that something like this was bound to happen.

"And she pushed me twice," Rachel continued. "And then I pushed her back and she fell in the mud. And then she tackled me and punched me in the face."

"You called me a name too!" Quinn said. "Before I pushed you."

"Rachel, what did you call her?" Shelby asked.

"I called her prejudice," Rachel answered still not getting the tense right.

Quinn huffed as if to say, 'you see the awful name she called me' and Judy turned her stare to Rachel. Shelby wanted to smile proudly, but she kept her face even though her eyes shone. That was her girl. Shelby looked at Judy to see if she was going to say anything, but the woman remained in a dazed silence so she did it herself.

"Well, young lady," Shelby said to Quinn. "As you can see, Rachel does have a mother. And yes, she has two fathers and they love each other and her very much. She is as normal as you and your mom and she is not a freak. Do you understand?"

"Yes, ma'am," Quinn mumbled. She didn't want to like weirdo Rachel Berry's mother, but the eight-year-old thought there was something kind of cool about her.

"Good girl," Shelby said. "And so this will be the last time either of get into a fight with each other or anyone else, right?"

"Yes, ma'am," Quinn said again.

"Rachel?"

"Yes, Mama," Rachel answered.

"Quinn, just wait until your father hears about this," Judy said.

Quinn's eyes immediately filled with tears and she shook her head. "But I was just saying what he always says about her and her two fathers," Quinn argued.

"Hush, Quinn," Judy chided. The woman wouldn't look at either Shelby or Rachel again as she pulled Quinn up and hustled her out of the office.

Shelby watched them go and felt a pang of sadness for that little girl even as her anger boiled over at her parents. It was awful to teach a child to hate.

"Come on, honey," Shelby said to Rachel as she held her hand out for the girl to take. "Let's go home."

Shelby was able to get a good look at her daughter's grass stained clothes when they were walking to her car and she couldn't quite believe it. She never would have guessed that she would receive a call from the school saying her daughter had been in a fist fight, though from the looks of it, Rachel didn't get to throw many punches. But still, Shelby had to do something. She spent the car ride trying to think of a way to discipline Rachel for the fight while still conveying that she was proud of her for standing up for her family. But she had been suspended and she couldn't let that go.

"Am I in trouble?" Rachel asked when they pulled into the driveway at Shelby's house.

"A bit," Shelby answered truthfully.

Rachel switched on her tears and sat forlornly in the backseat. Shelby bit her lip to keep from smiling at her daughter's dramatics and then got out and opened the back door to retrieve her. She took pity on her and picked Rachel up and carried her inside. When they reached the kitchen, Shelby set Rachel down on the counter and grabbed a paper towel and folded it over a couple times and then wet it.

"You know that fighting isn't allowed," Shelby scolded gently as she wiped a few smudges of dirt from Rachel's face.

"But she pushed me first," Rachel cried.

"And what should you have done next?" Shelby asked.

"Walked away and told a teacher," Rachel said. She'd heard this lesson before.

"That's right," Shelby said. She wiped at Rachel's tears and winced with her daughter when she got a little too close to the black eye.

Shelby lifted Rachel down from the counter and walked her out into the living room and leaned down to her eye level and pointed to the open corner and Rachel immediately slumped her shoulders.

"Mommy," she whined. "It's not fair!"

"Go on," Shelby said.

"I don't see why I'm the one that always has to stand in the corner," Rachel grumbled under her breath as she slowly crossed the distance to the dreaded time-out. Shelby had to bite back a laugh as she watched Rachel walk as if she were heading to her execution.

When the girl was in place, Shelby went back into the kitchen to get the phone and call Leroy and fill him in. The man was grinning ear to ear when Shelby told him of Rachel's words. He knew they were doing something right and he couldn't help but be pleased at having a kid who was willing to defend her family instead of feeling ashamed of it because of peer pressure. Shelby shook her head, but smiled at his enthusiasm when he told her he would tell Hiram.

"Ok, Rach, punishment's over," Shelby said when she stepped back into the living room.

Rachel sighed dramatically when she was able to get out of the corner…finally! She'd only been standing there ten minutes, but Rachel felt as if she was going gray she'd been there so long, even if deep down she knew it had been a light sentence for such a major thing as fighting and getting suspended.

"Let's get you out of those dirty clothes and then you can get started on your homework. You've got two days' worth to do," Shelby said.

"Do I have to do it all today?" Rachel asked.

"No, you don't have to do it all, but I want you working and not playing right now," Shelby said. "I didn't pick you up early from school so you could play.

"Ok," Rachel said because she knew there was no way around it. This is what she got her having a mother who was a teacher. Rachel put on some play clothes and handed her grass stained ones to her mom and then found herself seated at the table in the kitchen where Shelby could keep an eye on her.

A few hours later, Shelby was putting the finishing touches on dinner while Rachel was setting the table. Rachel was going to spend the night with Shelby since the woman was taking the following day off from work to stay home while Rachel was suspended. Hiram and Leroy were coming by for dinner straight from work.

The doorbell rang once and the front door opened almost at the same time and the happy men came in the house.

"Hi, Daddy!" Rachel called and Leroy came forward and picked her up.

"Hi, Slugger!"

"I didn't hit anyone," Rachel corrected in a scandalized tone.

"I know. Now, let's see that eye." Leroy let out a low whistle and said, "That's quite a shiner you've got there."

"I know!" Rachel agreed. "But it hurt."

"I bet it did," Hiram said.

"Dad!" Rachel smiled and held her arms out to him.

"Hi ya, Champ!" Hiram said as he took the girl in his arms. "I heard you were a real contender today."

"I was!" Rachel agreed though she didn't have any idea what that meant.

Shelby rolled her eyes at the men and muttered to the meatloaf she was making. It's a good thing she'd been around to give out what little bit of discipline Rachel did receive for fighting and being suspended because her fathers were too busy crowing with pride for their little girl.

"That's our girl," Hiram said. "We're proud of you, Peanut."

"You stood up for what you know to be right despite what others thought about it and that takes a lot of courage," Leroy said. Rachel beamed.

"I didn't want to fight her," Rachel admitted. "I only pushed her so she'd stop pushing me."

"That maybe wasn't the best approach," Hiram said.

Hiram passed Rachel back to Leroy so he could finish setting the table where the girl had left off.

"But what did you learn, Rachel?" Shelby asked.

"That I should have kept my hands up when she was punching my face," Rachel answered and the three adults stared at her in a stunned silence. "That's what Daddy always says when he's watching the men hit each other on TV."

Rachel smiled adoringly up at Leroy while Hiram and Shelby narrowed their eyes at him.

"Sweetheart, you're supposed to be in bed when the boxing is on," Leroy said giving his partner and Shelby a sheepish smile.

"But you let me stay up and watch it last month when Dad had to go and visit Grandma," Rachel reminded him.

"That was our secret, Rach," Leroy said to her and Rachel's eyes went wide and she covered her mouth. Leroy knew he'd be hearing about this for months.

"Sorry, Daddy," Rachel said.

"It's ok," Leroy told her. "I don't think that's what your mom meant anyways."

"No, it was not," Shelby agreed.

"I learned that I shoulda told a teacher when Quinn started being mean and shoving me," Rachel said, suddenly unable to look at any of them.

"That's right," Hiram said. "Because it's not the fight we're proud of," though he and Leroy exchanged the ghost of a pleased glance, "it's that you stood your ground with words and reason. You didn't let yourself be bullied by name calling."

"I don't like being called a freak," Rachel said. "But it was worse when she said I wasn't normal because I couldn't be 'cause she said I didn't have a mom and you can't be normal with two dads. But that's not true! And I think I'd like to tell Quinn that I'm lucky because I get a mom and two dads and not even she can say she has that. But her parents didn't sound like they were very nice so I don't know if she'd want another one or not," Rachel said thinking hard on it.

"You are a lucky girl, honey," Shelby said. "You've got two daddies to wrap around your finger. And one mommy to keep all of you in line."

Hiram stepped over to Shelby and kissed her cheek while simultaneously reaching around her and stealing a bit of food from a pot on the stove. She shooed him away and held her hands up when Leroy, still carrying Rachel, moved forward like he was going to do the same.

"Ah!" She stopped them. "No."

"We were just going to wash our hands," Leroy pouted.

"Then go into the bathroom," Shelby said.

Hiram used her moment of distraction to steal another piece and she threw her hand towel at him as he walked away.

The Berry men said their goodnights not too long after dinner and after that, Shelby and Rachel sat down to watch a movie. Well, Rachel was watching it and Shelby was attempting to grade papers. They were only about half way through it when Rachel crawled into Shelby's lap and wrapped her arms around her neck and held on tightly.

"Rachel, what are you doing?" Shelby asked.

"My head hurts," Rachel said. "I don't want to watch the movie anymore."

Shelby looked at her watch and saw that they were only forty minutes from Rachel's bedtime and she thought it probably wouldn't be a bad idea to put her there a little early.

"How about I give you some medicine to make your head feel better and then you can lie down?" Shelby asked.

"Ok," Rachel agreed.

Rachel put her clothes in the hamper when she was finished changing into her pajamas and went into the bathroom to brush her teeth. Instead, Shelby found her there a few minutes later sitting on her knees in the sink staring at her reflection in the mirror. Shelby gave her the children's aspirin and some water for after she chewed it. Rachel then brushed her teeth and hopped back up on the sink to look in the mirror.

"How long will it last? My black eye?"

"About a week or so," Shelby answered. "It'll start to fade."

"It really hurt when she hit me," Rachel confessed.

"I know it did, sweetie," Shelby said.

"Why do you think she hates Dad and Daddy?" Rachel asked. "I know you said adults are prejudice-"

"Prejudiced, honey."

"But I didn't know kids were too," Rachel finished.

Shelby picked Rachel up from the sink and carried her back into the girl's bedroom to put her to bed.

"Will you sit with me for a while?" Rachel asked.

"Sure." Shelby sat on Rachel's bed with her back to the headboard. Rachel crawled up and sat on Shelby's lap facing her.

"And even though she doesn't like Dad and Daddy, how come she doesn't like me?" Rachel asked.

Shelby sighed and held Rachel's hands in her own. It wasn't fair that their daughter had to deal with such hateful people at such a young age.

"Honey, sometimes adults teach their kids to dislike the same people they dislike," Shelby explained. "They think they are telling them how to be right but they are wrong. Quinn was wrong to say those things to you, but I'm afraid that she's learning that it's ok to think that way."

"But she's wrong," Rachel said. "You told me I can't be mean to anyone and she's mean to me all the time. Why didn't her mom tell her she can't be mean to people?"

"I'm sure her mom has told her," Shelby said. "But maybe she told her in a different way."

"Do you think if she met Dad and Daddy she would feel differently about them?" Rachel asked. "Maybe she would like them then. And then she can like me."

"Maybe she would, honey," Shelby said. "But we'd have to arrange that with her parents and I'm afraid that might not be so easy. Sometimes people just have a really hard time learning to like things or people that are different than they are."

"But that's silly," Rachel said. "Maybe Quinn could bring her parents and they could meet you and Dad and Daddy and then they won't seem all that different and then they'll like you guys."

Shelby smiled at Rachel's easy solution. "I'm afraid it might not be that simple."

"But if her parents don't want to meet them, maybe just Quinn can and then she'll see that they're normal like her and then she won't be so mean at school," Rachel said.

"Honey, we can try and arrange that, but I won't make any promises," Shelby said. "Quinn has to listen to her parents and if they she can't come, she can't come."

"Her daddy probably won't let her meet my daddies, huh?" Rachel asked dejectedly. "It would be so much easier if I could just explain to Quinn what I know and then she could explain it to her daddy."

"Explain what to her?" Shelby asked.

"That love is so much nicer than hate," Rachel answered easily.

Shelby pulled the little girl into a hug and held her against her chest and tears formed in the corner of her eyes. Right from the mouths of babes… and her baby girl already knew one of the secrets of life. Love is so much nicer than hate.

Ten minutes later Rachel was asleep and tucked in and Shelby left their sleeping daughter to once again call her fathers and tell them what she just said. The bragging rights couldn't be greater.

**A/N – Please leave me a review and let me know what you think. Thanks, guys!**

**The title of this comes from the song of the same name from the show South Pacific. It's incredible. The song and the show. That song was actually sung by Matthew Morrison when he was in the show if that's anymore incentive for some of you to seek it out and listen to it. Please do so. **


End file.
